BUSH TELEGRAPH

PIP COURTNEY, PRESENTER: As our recent story from Beef Week showed, there's a growing realisation in the bush of the importance of social media. It's not just the beef industry that's recognising this. Every week more farmers, agribusinesses and rural lobby groups join Twitter, start blogs or post videos on YouTube.

One of the leaders in Australia's growing ag social media world is Sydney lawyer Danica Leys. One of the co-founders of AgChatOZ, she was recognised for her work when named the NSW Rural Woman of the Year. When Danica Leys joined me earlier, she said she originally started AgChatOZ because she missed her rural mates.

DANICA LEYS, NSW RURAL WOMAN OF THE YEAR: When I first moved to Sydney, the job that I started in was using social media very heavily for marketing and also looking at social media law and that encouraged me to be involved in using social media and especially Twitter and one of my first thoughts when using Twitter was that I wanted to use it to connect with other people in the bush and other people connected with agribusinesses and rural businesses across Australia. So, I was also observing AgChat in the States. It's a weekly chat similar to AgChatOZ. And AgChat in the States was really good, fantastic, but obviously not suited to Australian audiences. So, as a result of those kinds of thoughts, I floated the idea of AgChatOZ online and it was born from there.

PIP COURTNEY: What's the aim of AgChatOZ?

DANICA LEYS: The aim of AgChatOz is that we're a social media advocacy group for agribusinesses and for people involved in agriculture - farmers, professionals and anyone that has an interest in agriculture. And what we try and do is provide a platform for people to have a say about various different issues that affect them and for people to network and make connections with people right across the industry.

PIP COURTNEY: How many followers does AgChatOZ have?

DANICA LEYS: We've got around about 2,500 followers at the moment which is, you know, a very healthy, respectable number given that we're looking at a very niche audience and that a lot of people involved in agriculture are not active on social media, so I think 2,500 followers is a good number.

PIP COURTNEY: Is it about farmers talking to farmers or farmers engaging with urban consumers?

DANICA LEYS: When we first started it definitely was about farmers talking to farmers and also farmers talking with other people in the industry. And what we see as one of or biggest challenges is engaging the urban audiences, which are we doing and we are trying to do more of as time goes on, but that is obviously very important in helping to bridge the urban/country divide.

PIP COURTNEY: Do you think AgChatOZ has much influence? For example, do the politicians follow it?

DANICA LEYS: I've been told anecdotally from various politicians and people involved in politics that they are following the conversation. We do have people in politics actually involved in the conversation as well, but more often than not if they're not involved, they are observing the conversation or they're looking at the feed the next day and they're really taking notice of what's being said.

PIP COURTNEY: What topics have got people really engaged and generated a lot of Twitter traffic?

DANICA LEYS: Our biggest topic actually was Australian women in agriculture, that was a great topic. We had a lot of different people participating in that topic and then some of our other big topics have been the more - I suppose you'd call them more controversial or more contentious issues such as live exports, GM crops and coal seam gas mining.

PIP COURTNEY: Do you think it just allows people to have conversations or do you think it actually changes opinions or changes policy?

DANICA LEYS: It gives a platform for people to have an opinion, but then what's important leading on from that is that opinion does in some way play into changing of policy and also provides a way for people in - who may not have a interest or may not know about rural issues to engage with those that are heavily involved with those issues to get answers.

PIP COURTNEY: What do you say to people who are a bit scared or wary of Twitter?

DANICA LEYS: Yeah, look, I can understand how they would feel that way. When I first started using Twitter I found it a little bit overwhelming and I was sort of approaching it from that point of view where I didn't really understand it and I didn't think that I needed to be involved on it. But, look, I just encourage people to take the first step and if they're not too sure just to ask a few questions of someone that may be able to help them. It really is a easy platform to be involved on and you'll find that it'll open up a whole new world of networks to you and a whole new community to you and just don't think it's trivial and don't think it's not for you, it is for everyone and I'd encourage everyone to have a go.

PIP COURTNEY: What do you say to people who say Twitter is just full of trivia, you know, like Kim Kardashian from Hollywood? Is there good info out there if people are prepared to do some sifting?

DANICA LEYS: I will admit there is a lot of rubbish on Twitter as well, but it all depends on who you follow. You don't have to follow people that are not relevant and information that's not relevant to you. You can tailor Twitter to be a source of information that is exactly what you want it to be and you can filter the conversation to get the most out of it, and as you mentioned, the Kardashians, if you don't want to know what Kim had for breakfast then don't follow her!

PIP COURTNEY: What was it like on Twitter when the live exports issue blew up last year?

DANICA LEYS: I just remember going in to work the next day and watching the feed and looking at hashtags like "ban live exports" and it was just phenomenal the amount of talk and the amount of people that were calling for the banning of live exports and which obviously the Government did notice and that, you know, in some way and in some part led to the banning - the temporary ban, anyway, of live exports.

PIP COURTNEY: If the live cattle export issue blew up today, do you think rural Australia would be better able to engage the animal rights groups on Twitter?

DANICA LEYS: Yeah, look, I think they would. I still think those animal rights groups have a massive presence on social media, so in any event that is going to be a challenge, but I think through the work of AgChatOZ, for example, and other social media platforms that have popped up since the live exports happened the first time that there are more places for people to go and get an answer, a true answer on how cattle are being treated and what farmers think about the treatment of those cattle and for urban audiences to be able to have that direct engagement with a farmer that perhaps might not or probably wasn't there as much when live exports happened the first time.

PIP COURTNEY: Do you think social media's a fad or is it here to stay?

DANICA LEYS: Without a doubt it is here to stay. I mean, the face of social media will change over time. It's going to look different in five years' time to what it looks now, but as far as social media generally, it is here to stay. It's not trivial, it's something that more and more people are using to communicate all different things, and as Troy said, everyone thought the internet and emails were a fad and look what's happening there. I'm fully convinced that social media is definitely here to stay.